Chapter 316.
1,004 words·~5 min read·
/statutes-at-large/vol-20/chapter-316-684629·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
CHAP. 316.— AN ACT to create an Auditor of Railroad Accounts and for other purposes.June 19, 1878. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*,1862, ch. 120, § 20,12 Stat., 498.1868, ch. 77,15 Stat., 79,Repealed. That section twenty of the act entitled “An act to aid in the construction of a railroad and telegraph line from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean, and to secure to the government the use of the same for postal, military and other purposes”, approved July first anno Domini eighteen hundred and sixty-two, and the act entitled “An act relative to filing reports of railroad companies” approved June twenty-fifth, anno Domini eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, be, and the same are hereby, repealed.
Sec. 2. That the office of Auditor of Railroad Accounts is herebyAuditor of railroad Accounts. established as a bureau of the Interior Department. The said Auditor shall be appointed by the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. The annual salary of the said Auditor shall be, and isSalary. hereby, fixed at the sum of five thousand dollars. To assist the said Auditor to perform the duties of said office, 170 FORTY-FIFTH CONGRESS. Sess.
II. Oh. 316. 1878. the Secretary of the Interior shall appoint one bookkeeper at an annualClerks.Salaries. salary of two thousand font hundred dollars, one assistant bookkeeper at an annual salary of two thousand dollars, one clerk at an annual Traveling expenses.salary of one thousand four hundred dollars, and one copyist at an annual salary of nine hundred dollars. Actual and necessary traveling and other expenses incurred in visiting the offices of the railroad companies hereinafter described, and for which vouchers shall be rendered, are hereby allowed, not to exceed the sum of two thousand dollars per annum; and it is hereby specially provided that each of said railroad Free transportation.companies shall furnish transportation over its own road, without expense to the United States, for the said Auditor or any person acting Incidentals.under his direction.
Incidental expenses for books, stationery and other material necessary for the use of said bureau are hereby allowed not to exceed the sum of seven hundred dollars per annum. And the sum of Appropriation.twelve thousand dollars is hereby appropriated for the uses and purposes of this act for the. fiscal year ending June thirtieth, anno Domini eighteen hundred and seventy-nine. Sec. 3 That the ditties of the said Auditor under and subject to theDuties of Auditor. direction of the Secretary or the Interior shall be, to prescribe a system of reports to be rendered to him by the railroad companies whose roads are in whole or in part west, north, or south of the Missouri River, and to which the United States have granted any loan of credit or subsidy in bonds or lands; to examine the books and accounts of each of said railroad companies once in each fiscal year, and at such other times as may be deemed by him necessary to determine the correctness of any report received from them; to assist the government directors of any of said railroad companies in all matters which come under their cognizance whenever they may officially request such assistance; to see that the laws relating to said companies are enforced; to furnish such information to the several departments of the government in regard to tariffs for freight and passengers and in regard to the accounts of said railroad companies as may be by them required, or, in the absence of any request therefor, as he may deem expedient for the interest of the government;
Annual report.and to make an annual report to the Secretary of the Interior, on the first day of November, on the condition of each of said railroad companies, their road, accounts, and affairs, for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth immediately preceding. Sec. 4. That each and every railroad company aforesaid which hasRailroads to make reports and submit books, etc. received from the United States any bonds of the said United States, issued by way of loan to aid in constructing or furnishing its road, or which has received from the United States any lands granted to it for a similar purpose, shall make to the said Auditor any and all such reports as he may require from time to time aid shall submit its books and records to the inspection of said Auditor or any person acting in his place and stead, at any time that the said Auditor may request, in the office where said books and records are usually kept; and the said Auditor, or his authorized representative, shall make such transcripts from the said books and records as he may desire.
Sec. 5. That if any railroad company aforesaid shall neglect or refuseNeglect of railroad to report, etc. to make such reports as may be called for, or refuse to submit its books and records to inspection, as provided in section four of this act, such Forfeiture.neglect or refusal shall operate as a forfeiture, in each case of such neglect or refusal, of a sum not less than one thousand nor more than five thousand dollars, to be recovered by the Attorney-General of the United States in the name and for the use and benefit of the United States; and it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Interior, in all such cases of neglect or refusal as aforesaid, to inform the Attorney-General of the facts, to the end that such forfeiture or forfeitures may be judicially enforced.
Sec. 6. This act shall apply to any and all persons or corporations intoApplication of act. whose hands either of said railroads may lawfully come, as well as to the original companies. 171 FORTY FIFTH CONGRESS. Sess. II. Ch. 316, 317, 318, 319. 1878. Sec. 7. This act shall take effect on and alter the first day of July,Date of effect. anno Domini eighteen hundred and seventy-eight. Approved, June 19, 1878.